In honor of National Beer Day...

[belizesailor]

Glass is great for being non-reactive, but of course is breakable and thus potentially dangerous. Better Bottle makes a bunch of food grade plastic brewing vessels and accessories:

http://www.better-bottle.com/products_master.html


There are also stainless kegs less than 5 gallons.

[Fence Man]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldxr2x1M2dk

[MarkusK]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Food grade plastic (not water jugs, wrong type of plastic). Most hombrew shops sell basic brew buckets for this purpose and some fancier plastic brew vessels too. Stainless is a good option too...I use cornelius kegs ashore for fermenting, aging (meads), and dispensing.

Everything has to be food grade.

Corny kegs are great...no exploding bottles to worry about. Gotta find a way to store and cool a keg on my boat!

In the meantime, PET bottles and PET carboy are the way to go.

Cheers!

[jmschmidt]

A liquid at lower temperatures can hold more gas (CO2) in suspension. Because of this cold beer is less filling. Therefore, your can hold more of it. A fact that British pub owners have apparently never learned or they are not really interested in selling more beer.

[chris mac]

I use a kegerator at home. I would love to figure a way to bring it aboard. Save on high costs in remote areas and garbage. Downside would be space and needed power.
I would think kegs could be bought from most hotels.
Does anyone actually do this?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by chris mac

I use a kegerator at home. I would love to figure a way to bring it aboard. Save on high costs in remote areas and garbage. Downside would be space and needed power.
I would think kegs could be bought from most hotels.
Does anyone actually do this?

Not aboard, but in many countries you can buy used kegs from distributors (soda/beer) relatively inexpensively.

Given that ingredients need to be imported in many cruising venues, the economic/hassle incentive is not very strong IMHO. Even here in the San Blas, I can buy a case of swill (Balboa) for $18 ($0.75/can) and the local Kuna indians will take the cans from me when done. Low cost. Low hassle.

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Not aboard, but in many countries you can buy used kegs from distributors (soda/beer) relatively inexpensively.

Given that ingredients need to be imported in many cruising venues, the economic/hassle incentive is not very strong IMHO. Even here in the San Blas, I can buy a case of swill (Balboa) for $18 ($0.75/can) and the local Kuna indians will take the cans from me when done. Low cost. Low hassle.

Actually I meant purchasing full kegs.
I used to make my own, but got bored with it.
Plus my cousin manages a liquor store, so I get a great deal. A full keg lasts me on average 6 months and it works out cheaper than canned beer. Draft also just tastes better. We will be looking at cats in the 40 foot range. Once we are aboard I may just try to work out a way.
But, there is something a little bit dangerous about having access to ice cold beer from a seemingly endless tap;-)

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by chris mac

Actually I meant purchasing full kegs.
I used to make my own, but got bored with it.
Plus my cousin manages a liquor store, so I get a great deal. A full keg lasts me on average 6 months and it works out cheaper than canned beer. Draft also just tastes better. We will be looking at cats in the 40 foot range. Once we are aboard I may just try to work out a way.
But, there is something a little bit dangerous about having access to ice cold beer from a seemingly endless tap;-)

Ah... I used to captain a Lagoon 50 with a 2 tap kegerator...so, it can be done!

A keg lasts you 6 months...wow! Im lucky to get 2 weeks out of my homebrew batches in kegs....that gurgling sound as you go for the next beer is deeply disappointing! Of course, my wife and friends help get it to that stage.

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Ah... I used to captain a Lagoon 50 with a 2 tap kegerator...so, it can be done!

A keg lasts you 6 months...wow! Im lucky to get 2 weeks out of my homebrew batches in kegs....that gurgling sound as you go for the next beer is deeply disappointing! Of course, my wife and friends help get it to that stage.

Wow, how big are your kegs? I use the full size 55 l. Over the summer, it disappears quicker, winter is 6 months.(I drink more rum)
And yes, foam blowing out the tap shuts the party down. It's tough knowing when you will run dry. Although it always seems to happen on a Friday.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by chris mac

Wow, how big are your kegs? I use the full size 55 l. Over the summer, it disappears quicker, winter is 6 months.(I drink more rum)
And yes, foam blowing out the tap shuts the party down. It's tough knowing when you will run dry. Although it always seems to happen on a Friday.

Mine are standard Cornelius kegs (~20 liters), very common in the USA, and I brew typical homebrew batches of about 5 gallons, sometimes 10 gallons.

My wife and I often sample a brew a little bit before its ready...and of course its pretty good at that point...so we "sample" more...over a couple of weeks it conditions more and is near perfect...then it sputters dry...making it doubly disappointing! [emoji24]

Ive found one solution to this problem is simply not to be where the brew is conditioning. This works especially well for meads which benefit greatly from some aging (most beers not so much). Most of my brew gear is still at my place in Guatemala and we unfortunately dont spend much time there these days. I brewed a braggot (a beer-mead hybrid) before we took off cruising a few years ago...we planned to return in about 6 months, but did not get back until over a year later...the braggot was magical ! Now I do a little brewing in Panama and in Guatemala...this means at least some brew is in a different country and will have time to condition unmolested. [emoji6]

[chris mac]

Belize sailor, I truly look forward to meeting you one day and trying your home brew on the water. 👍

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by chris mac

Belize sailor, I truly look forward to meeting you one day and trying your home brew on the water. 👍

Maybe one day we will cross wakes. I have done some sailing in your area (well on the W Coast anyway): Victoria, San Juan & Gulf Islands.

[Seas the Day]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

After a freezing winter, this is the perfect time to start a new batch of homebrew. In November 2013 I tested whether I could brew beer onboard. https://sednahr35.blogspot.com/2013/...r-onboard.html I used glass jugs to ferment the wort. Does anyone know of a non-breakable container that would be easy to store onboard and still have the resulting beer taste good?

We all have our job specifications, some are meant to brew or vint, mine is just to drink. This is my specialisation.

[Fence Man]

Originally Posted by Seas the Day

We all have our job specifications, some are meant to brew or vint, mine is just to drink. This is my specialisation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtMy5IBmX7E

#metoo

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Seas the Day

We all have our job specifications, some are meant to brew or vint, mine is just to drink. This is my specialisation.

Thats my wife's specialization too (both my beers & meads). She has a rather discerning palate so helps keep the bar high. [emoji6]